Life is a Promise Well Kept
by nikolabelle
Summary: Sam, when he proposed to Quinn, promised that he would make her proud to point down the hall and say "That dude's my boyfriend". He has kept his promise, and life is sweet. But soon, as they tell more people, it seems as though the world is against them.
1. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter One

Life seemed perfect. Just like Sam had promised when he proposed, I was proud to point down the hall and say "That's my boyfriend." Well, fiancé, technically, since I began to wear his ring.

Initially, I felt nervous, worried that someone would notice. Then, the ring would suddenly feel burning hot, then freezing cold and heavy, but nobody ever realised.

That lasted a week, before we told Glee club. Mr Schuester was giving his usual 'Sectionals' lecture, before Sam and I stood up and asked if we could make an announcement. We went and stood over by the piano. I could feel every pair of eyes in the room focused-on us. I took a deep breath, about to tell them, before Sam said "Quinn and I are getting engaged." Simple. Easy. Straightforward. There was total silence.


	2. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Two

We stood there for what seemed like eons, but was only seconds. I could feel Sam's arm around me, gripping me tight. Everybody's face was the same-disbelief.

"Wait a second, so you're getting, like, married? What?" Finn asked.

"Sam proposed to me, and promised that he would make me proud to point down the hall and say 'That dude's my boyfriend'. And, he has. We may not end up getting married, but for now-this ring is his promise. So I said maybe, before using a nail file to break into his locker and steal the ring, and now it's on my finger."

"I think I can sense another Glee wedding!" Mr Schue said, before everybody clapped and cheered. Puck was still confused.

I turned to Sam. "Yeah," he said. "I just want to make Quinn happy, so..." I raised my eyebrows at him.

He smiled at me, and nodded at the pianist. Aha, so he'd been planning something?

I thought that I recognised the tune, the song. It was slow, sad and sweet, but only when Sam started singing that I realised that he was singing 'I Knew I Loved You'.

I ran up and hugged him when the song was over, but then I looked over his shoulder and saw Coach Sylvester staring at us. I broke the hug off, and then Mr Schue saw her, too. Two words ran through my head: _uh oh._


	3. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Three

There was total silence in the room for a couple of seconds, before Sam and I began to wonder what Coach Sylvester had wanted. The room was pumped full of adrenaline, everybody at least a bit scared of what Coach was going to do. Had she heard everything? Would she go to Figgins's office, and complain, as she usually did? What was going to happen?

After five minutes, Mr Schue came back into the room. "Sam, Quinn," he said. "Principal Figgins would like to see you."

My heart pounding, I grabbed Sam's hand, and we walked to the principal's office together. Sam took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Come in."

We went in.


	4. Life is a Promise Well Kept Chapter Four

"What are you two thinking? You are only teenagers! Coach Sylvester, what do you think?" In five minutes, Figgins had done nothing but asked us what we were thinking, and the whole time, what I was thinking was _This is none of your business. When I fell pregnant, you didn't even care. Why are you suddenly so obsessed with us? Besides, falling pregnant is much worse-a billion times worse-than your boyfriend proposing to you as a promise of happiness._

"Principal Figgins, why are we here? When I fell pregnant, you didn't even care. Mr Schue, tell him." Mr Schuester, who had been standing against the wall for the entire time, said "It is true, Principal. When Quinn was pregnant, she wasn't summoned to your office. Sam simply proposed to her to promise that he would make her happy. This makes absolutely no sense at all! We're only here because Sue is trying to pull apart Glee club!"

"Mr Schuester, I can see what you mean, but-"

"Schuester has a point." Coach Sylvester intervened. "When Quinn fell pregnant, you did not care. Now she's engaged, and you care. What is the meaning of this? You people sicken me." And then, she left. Figgins sighed.

"Fine, Schuester, just go. Ms Fabray and Mr Evans-go."

We went.


	5. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Five

That night, just before dinner, mum came into my bedroom, and spontaneously hugged me. "Quinny, I'm so sorry that we threw you out." she told me. Why was she telling me this now?

"You know, after that scare that you gave us, I don't think your father would react even if...even if...you ran away to Vegas, heaven forbid, and got married!"

I laughed nervously. What did she know? Did she...? "Ha ha! Mum, you know I would never run away to Vegas!" Mum gave me another hug, then said,

"Oh yes, Quinn? You know that boy you were going out with? Sam?" I froze.

"Yes?"

"I've invited him over for dinner tomorrow. Your father and I would just love to meet him!" She turned and left.

The last time my parents had invited my boyfriend over, Finn had told them that I was pregnant-and I'd been thrown out. Would Sam do the same stupid thing? Would he tell them? I'd have to talk to him, because if he told them...I was sure that dad would implode.


	6. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Six

_Ding. Dong. _I held my breath as mum opened the door to reveal him-Sam. I'd talked to him at school, and told him not to tell my parents ANYTHING. I told him not to even mention the word marriage or engagement, if possible.

He smiled (charmingly) at mother, then at me. "Good evening, Quinn, Mrs Fabray. Thank you for inviting me for dinner tonight." I stared at him, but he wasn't done. "I must say, you have a very lovely home."

"Why thank you, Sam. I will show you to the living room." As she showed him the way to the living room, pointed out the bathroom, the kitchen, the dining room. She left us in the living room, where I turned to Sam.

"What do you think you're _doing_?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"Being my charming self." he grinned. I shoved him in the arm.

"No funny business, Sam, please!" I said. He held his hands up.

"Quinn, why are you so stressed about this?"

"Because the last time I had a boyfriend over, he told my dad that I was pregnant, so I got kicked out, so dad is going to be on high alert tonight! Yes, you've nearly won mum over, but dad is going to be watching your every move!" I hissed, as mum walked in.

"Dinner is ready," she announced, "This way." As we trailed along behind her, I nudged Sam again. I was taking no chances-I was not going to get thrown out again.

Dad stood as we entered the dining room. "Sam, good to meet you! So you're the boy our Quinny has been talking about! Sit down, sit down." I stifled a giggle at the look on Sam's face. I had warned him-dad could be intimidating.

Dinner went well-Sam was gracious, cleaned his plate, and was perfect in every way. He answered my father with "Yes sir, no sir." and my mother with "Yes ma'am, no ma'am." I was astonished.

When asked about how school was going, he replied that it was going well, and was glad that he had met me.

It was only as Sam was leaving that dad noticed something-my ring. Damn, I thought I'd removed it!

"Quinn, what's that?" I turned to face him.

"What's what, daddy?"

"On your finger. Show me your fingers." I swiftly removed the ring, and showed him my hands. I glanced at Sam, who was suddenly nervous. He took my hands, inspected them, and let them drop back to my sides. I heard a tiny _tinkle, _as though a small piece of metal had just fallen to the ground from my hand.

"Quinn, what's that?" My mother bent down and picked up the ring. She showed to my father.

He examined the ring, then looked up at us, brow furrowed. "This looks like an engagement ring." he said. He looked at me.

"I-I-" I tried to find my voice.

"Quinny." His face was unreadable. I felt tears threatening to slide down my face.

"Daddy, I-"


	7. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Seven

The drive to Sam's parent's house was torture. We sat in the back seat, holding hands and not daring to look each other in the eye. When we pulled into the Evans' driveway, Sam's mother came rushing out, worried.

Mum and dad whispered something to her, she glanced at us and ushered us inside. She led us to the living room, where the four parents all sat down and looked at Sam and I, standing in the doorway, as though for an explanation.

"What does this all mean?" my father asked us. The rest of them nodded, and I looked at Sam.

"I proposed to Quinn, as a promise to make her happy, treat her well and make her proud to point down the hall and say 'That dude's my boyfriend'. And she accepted."

The parents absorbed this, and then Sam's mother said, "So you two are happy for now-and I suppose that's what matters-but what happens if you become unhappy?"

"If one of us is not happy, we'll break it off. Nothing bad will happen." Sam replied evenly.

"Exactly," I added. "I mean, it's not like I'm pregnant or anything." both of my parents froze, and I bit my lip, feeling bad to have played the pregnancy card.

"Yeah." dad said, looking down. "But I am still angry that you, young man," he pointed to Sam, "Did not ask me first, and also in you, young lady," his finger turned towards me, "Because you did not consult us before accepting. I, for one, think that you are completely rushing into things. So, Quinn, take that ring off. Now." he held out his hand.

"Daddy, I love Sam!" I blurted out. "I've said this before, but the only reason that you are angry is that I'm not your little girl anymore. I'm growing up. I'm engaged. Yeah, at seventeen, but to someone I love. Sam didn't pressure me into this-I didn't even accept on the spot. I thought for a while, before breaking into his locker and stealing the ring, to show him."

"So you're a thief, now, too?"

"Daddy, it was for me to accept Sam's offer! The ring was for me! I wasn't stealing! It was mine, after I'd decided to accept. Mum?"

My mother bit her lip. "Honey, I also think that you're rushing into things here, but I don't think," she looked pointedly at my father, "That you were stealing. I am sorry to see my little Quinny growing up, but this is your choice, and Sam is a lovely young man." she smiled.

Sam's father spoke up, then. "Sam," he addressed his son, 'We both know that you love Quinn-my god, you won't shut up about her! But are you sure this is what you want? You two are still young-you still have your entire lives ahead of you. Just...be sensible and think, ok? At least now I know what you wanted when you asked to borrow some money. But son, you could've just told me. I would've paid for the whole thing!"

"No, dad, you would have told me that I was being foolish, and not to get my hopes up." Sam calmly returned.

"So what are we going to do about this?" my father asked. _That is so my father. _I thought; _always wants to know what's going to happen next. _

"Well, nothing, dear." Thankfully mum had taken our side. "It's perfectly-she's just growing up, that's all."

Thank god for my mother.


	8. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Eight

The next couple of days were hard, and confusing. At home, my father seemed oddly distant and irritated. At school, the reaction was mixed. In Glee Club, everybody was really supportive, and in the corridors, some people made fun of us, and others just did not care. The interest seemed to fade.

Well, for most people it did. Coach Sylvester, at cheerleading practise, brought up the engagement in front of everybody-

"Well, at least Quinn isn't pregnant this time!" she'd said, to the amusement of the other squad members. This brought home the realisation of why dad was so annoyed-he didn't want me to get pregnant again.

We were only engaged-it was completely harmless. Wasn't it? But then, I looked again at the kids at school-and I was proved wrong.


	9. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Nine

It started off as light teasing-people cat-calling Sam and I in the corridors, saying things like "Not pregnant yet, Quinn, huh?" or to Sam, "Ooooh, here comes Mr. Romantic, who wants to keep his promises!" completely stupid stuff.

But then, a group of the footballers (I noticed that neither Finn nor Puck was amongst them) slushied us. In the middle of the corridor. I knew that Sam wasn't used to having slushies dumped all over him, so I helped him to get it out of his hair first-before I realised how cold I was.

When I got home that evening, the huge blue stain on my cheerleading uniform was the first thing that my mother noticed. "Quinn, what have you done to your uniform?" she shrieked. I brushed her off, saying that I'd spilt a slushie on myself-half true.

But then it kept going on. We were teased in the corridors, slushied regularly, etc. People would call out to Sam "Quinn not pregnant yet, eh, Sam?" and taunt him about being _so _romantic or whatever. It seems vain, but sometimes, the first thought I had when I got home, or when a slushie dripped down my face, was _I've lost my status. _

The other cheer squad girls used to say that getting married is too binding-you can't have any fun. And then they'd talk about how they would want their boyfriends to propose to them.

Glee club was my sanctuary, just as it had been when I was pregnant. At lunchtime, they would all sit down with Sam and I, and try to stop the taunts and the downpour of slushies. Of course, inside the Glee club, we all had our little groups-Mercedes and Kurt, Rachel and Finn, Finn and Sam and Puck, Brittany and Santana and I, Artie and Tina and Mike and Brittany. But in light of this whole problem, all these groups have been smashed together, to form our friends. Obviously Rachel isn't suddenly my best friend, or Santana constantly with Tina or anything like that-but we've all united against a common enemy.

In Glee club, life was fine. When we stepped into the corridors, or into our classrooms-it sometimes felt as though the entire world was against us.

One day in Glee, Mr Schue told us to all come up with something to perform. I put my hand up, because I already knew what song I was going to sing. And so did Rachel. Of course.

"So you two know what songs you're doing? Great! We'll hear them tomorrow."

The bell rang.


	10. Life is a Promise Well KeptChapter Ten

I was standing in front of the entire Glee club, waiting for Mr Schue to let me start my song. Rachel had just finished her ridiculous Broadway song, and was now sitting down, flicking her hair and smiling at Finn.

I watched as Mr Schue nodded to me. "The song I will be singing is 'The Show' by Lenka, because, at the moment, I am caught in the middle."

I nodded at the band.

_"I'm just a little bit caught in the middle, _

_ Life is a maze, and love is a riddle,_

_ I don't know where to go, can't do it alone,_

_ I've tried, and I don't know why." _

At the end of it, everybody clapped. Well, almost everybody. Rachel looked just a little bit irritated. I took it as a compliment, because if Rachel was irritated after I had sung, it meant that she thought I was good. I sat down next to Sam, who wrapped his arms around me.

"Thank you, Quinn, for that." Mr Schue said. I smiled. I seemed to be happy on the outside, but inside me-turmoil. How could my father be so annoyed? Why couldn't he just accept my decisions?

A year ago, I would have laughed if somebody told me that Glee club was going to become my only safe haven, and that I was going to move in with Mercedes. I would have been hysterical if someone had told me that I was going to fall pregnant-with Puck's baby.

But hey-times change.


	11. Life is a Promise Well Kept The End

I was sitting next to Sam, on the porch out the front of our house, surrounded by grandchildren. We'd married, and grown old together. We were listening to our eldest grandchild talking about how she'd just won a solo in Glee club. I asked her if Mr Schue was still teaching-she asked me who that was. My daughter-Rachel, of all the names-had named _her _daughter Mercedes-and it was Mercedes telling me about her solo, now.

Mercedes asked us to sing her a song-Sam and I sang the song Lucky for her. Funny, it only seemed like yesterday that we'd sung that for the Glee club-but it also felt like a million years ago.

Sam and I still keep in touch with our Glee friends-Rachel ended up on Broadway, of course, along with Kurt, who also edited _Kurt magazine. _Puck had gone on to play football, and Mercedes had brought out some very popular cd's. Finn had divided his career between football and singing, and Mike danced. Of course, we're all retired now. It's funny how many of our relationships survived-Kurt and Blaine are still together, as well as Rachel and Finn, Puck and Santana, Tina and Mike, Artie and Brittany.

Oh yeah, Artie. He used to be able to walk a little, with the help of prosthetics, but age forced him back into a wheelchair. Mr Schue and Holly Holiday, our awesome substitute, actually ended up together, whist Coach Sylvester is still married to herself.

As for my first baby, Beth? Rachel's mum took care of her well, and Beth went into theatre. I've met her, and she's amazing.

Life is a promise well kept.


End file.
